SEARCH THIS SITE
Type what you are looking for in the top box below, then click the Google Search bar just below that.
It will take you to a Google Search engine that found everything related to what you are looking for here.  
The WebRiverside Missouri History
1950-1959
1950-1959
Riverside Topography Map Slider
Grab the slider in the middle and----------
Travel through time from 1934 to 1951
Vivion Road is constructed.  Horse track goes.  Indian Hills development starting.
1950.  
Fairfax bridge toll booth. 
1950's
Mr. Young talking to construction worker while adding on to Red X. 

Mayor Ed Rule

From the 1950 Parkville Phone Book.  The Town and Country shared the building with Filger Oil where the Corner Cafe is now.

1950's
Matchbook covers. 
June 25,  1950
1951
The first race was June 3. 
One of the first photos of the new Riverside Speedway about 1951.  White City motel is upper right. 
1950
Brenner Ridge School
Teacher was Francis (Klamm) Debow.  Sandra Kay Sloan (Kay Brown) is second row back, third from left.
1951, June.  
Looking west on what was then called 71 highway and now called West Platte.  Today (2018) the Garney waterfall would be across the street to your right.  We can see is was rainy and this photo was likely just before or just after the 51 flood. .  The speedway parking is to the left.  Fata's is in the center where you see the Standard sign. 
1951 began with a Missouri River flood.  It reached a crest of 46.2 feet.  This all happened when Mr. Young was adding onto Red X, starting the Riverside Speedway and working behind the scenes to get Riverside incorporated.  The flood of 1844 started the community and the flood of 1993 changed the history of Riverside. 

There was a second flood in 1952 of 40.6 feet.  For comparison, the flood of 1993 was 48.6'. 

Below flood photos from both 51 and 52.
1951, June 17 & April 4
Boxing at Riverside Speeday
Fight at Riverside Speedway cancelled due to flood.   Rex Layne was a heavyweight contender.  Rosalie Kopp (her parents owned Fata's next to the stadium), No fight that night, the sky opened up and it rained so hard, car got stuck in the parking lot behind the stadium. Kenneth R. Klamm To follow up on my earlier comment, according to Wikipedia: On July 12, 1951, [Rex Layne] lost by 6th round KO to [heavyweight champion]  Rocky Marciano. Marciano's knockout punch sheared off four of Layne's upper, front teeth at the gumline and sent his mouthpiece bouncing with teeth included out of the ring.
April 5, 1951
May 31,  1951
June 20, 1951

Belgian Bottoms, 51' Flood

The six photos below were posted by Carol Schifflett from what is today 9 highway and Horizons [aka: Belgian Bottoms] and was the house she grew up in. 
Below is the front (street side) of the house shown above. 

[Below]

This is how the farm normally looked.

These photos were sent in by Deborah Smith.

July 24, 1951
Looking west.  Fata's station on the left, old post office next and Red X in the background. 
1951-52
Brenner Ridge Enrollment
1951
Beverly Lumber would be the first of two business to burn from a water heater.  The second would be Jim Coen's Hardware store 35 years later.  was one of the earliest businesses in Riverside was actually here before the foundation of the city. It was founded by Frank McKnight with his brother-in-law Bill Dowd as manager of the first yard. In 1947 the company purchased the A.J. Higgins Lumber Company of Tracy, later moving it to Platte City. In April 1949, the firm purchased the White Lumber Company in Riverside.
The Riverside location became the headquarters. Locations were later started in Leavenworth and Atchison, Ks. The company remained a family business with McKnight's two daughters as owners and three of Dowd's sons as president and managers of the two largest yards - Riverside and Leavenworth. Walt Dowd is president of the company. Over the years the company was hit by floods and fires, but has since survived and prospered. The company had a store in St. Joseph in the late 1940s, and was planning to close it when it was destroyed by fire in 1951. The Riverside store was flooded several times in 1947, 1951 and 1952. The worst flood was in 1993 when the water was eight feet high at the Riverside headquarters, and it took three months to clean up the damage. The store was purchased by the City and the store closed in Riverside in 2013.
Moore's Grocery Store
 Moore's Store off High Drive Terrace operated from the late 1930's to the 1960's.  It was also an official voting place for the 3 ward in Riverside in 1952. 
The photo below is Janice Britt.  Here are comments from the Facebook page:  
Janice Britt:  I got these thunder thighs from riding my bike to Moores Market when we moved there in 1956. Then I ventured a little farther to Griffs. Going down City Hall Hill wasn't too bad .....but it sure was a booger getting back up the hill.

Sandy Lugo I use to live right next door to Moore store I also remember that phone booth a elderly lady would make calls from it and left her change in it we would run and get it until my mom found out,by the way people called the lady Birdy. 
Bus stop by Moore's Grocery Store
Facebook comments:
Pamela Snow-Pipkin:  Bus stop by Moore's grocery store. I don't remember alot of the faces. Bottom left is Sammy Kitchell and I am in the red dress front row and Sharon Kitchell next to me.

Art Homer Floyd and Violet Moore were the owner/operators. Violet's sister Rosy also helped. At one time they sold gasoline and had a restaurant as part of their operation. 

Gwen Mckinney-Jones No. When I was young we would walk up to high drive, from Merrimac to a little neighborhood store. It was called Moore's Store. My brother, Connie, Dixie, Treasa. Had to be in the 60's. It is an apartment now. Not any bigger than the one in Northmoore, except the upstairs where the owners lived 


New Paragraph
1951
December 29
1951
1951   
Repeal order of 1951.  This photo is the first beginnings of Riverside becoming a city. Photo was believed to have been taken at Brenner Ridge School.   The 51 flood was ongoing at this time. 
RIVERSIDE BECOMES A 4TH CLASS CITY
 The future city father's petitioned the court on June 21st, 1951 and is otherwise known as the founding date.  However the judge didn't rule in Riverside's favor until June 26, 1951.  Although Riverside officially became a fourth class city in June of 1951, the next six months were spent putting all the government pieces together it's apparent Mr. Young was the key role player. The first minutes are from November 1951 and councilmen present were Young, Scrivner, Renner and Eagle as acting secretary. 
  All were “volunteers” until the first election April 1, 1952. The first election was April 9, 1952. The certified election results – Mayor Ferd Filger, Ward I – E.H. Young (1952), Ward II – Lowell Brenner (1952), and Ward III – William T. Scrivner (1952), Ward I – Roy Renner (1952), Ward II – Frances Clark (1952), and Ward III. C.F. Beach had replaced Dr. Eagle as the secretary. The alderman with the most votes, E.H. Young, swore the Mayor, F.F. Filger into office.
The first official City Hall was the old post office and was there about one year from 1951 until the fall of 1952.  The building was provided by E.H. Young. 
The formation of Riverside required a vote of the people and here's an article about that. 
1952
Southern Platte County
1952
Before the first election there was a lawsuit protesting the Platte County Court didn't have the power to authorize the incorporation of Riverside, which went in Riverside's favor. 
1952
1952, February 22
Burt Wax, Clifford Sloan and Jim Wedua in front of the Texaco Station owned by Ferd Filger. 
Jim is on the right and below is him in December 2019 with almost exactly the same smile.
Reece's Cafe
About 1951.  Photo is Helen Sloan. 32 years later this would be the first home of the Corner Cafe. For you younger people, the chrome box on the counter was a machine you put money in and a juke box would play a record.  Record were routinely updated based on the newest hits and sometimes you would have to sit for a while to hear your song if the place was busy.
The juke box was a way to keep customers not only in the establishment, but happy as well.  There was a knob that turned the wheel inside the glass showing the songs. Every song had a number beside it such as B 19. You would put your quarters, dimes in the top and press the letter and number of your song. 
Second photo is of the actual juke box that was in Reece's provided by Ken Klamm.  Man in photo is unknown.
Early 50's photo of Mayor Filger talking on the first pay phone in Riverside.  The photo is thought to be in Reece's Cafe. 
1952, April 12
1952
April 16
1952, April 21
Less than a year after the 51 flood, the river came back. Below is the back of the Riverside Downs Jockey Club 14 years after it had closed.  
52 flood stopped construction of the Beverly Lumber Company. 
1952
Gasoline Alley just north of the Fairfax bridge. 

Then and Now

Photo from 1952 morphed 70 years to 2022

If you look close, you can see the river flooding in the 52' photo.  The house on the left was the John Peter Brenner house from 1877 to 1928.  Riverside motel and Eagle Animal hospital would have been back to your left.  Hard to see in the photo, but you can't see any houses on this side of Indian hills.

1952, July 3
Fireworks AD, this was also a grocery store that later was better known as Thriftway and Connie's. 
July 15, 52
Riverside Speedway
1952. 
Mr. Young send out these Christmas Cards from "Zeke". 
April 12, 1952
Green Hill's Tavern Burns
Was located just east of Misty Woods.

This was apparently a popular club in Riverside in the 50's and 60's.  This plate had belonged to Emery A. Brenner.  Magsparks had to do with automotive parts.

1952
Riverside Stadium, July 12
1952
August 2
1953
No photo, but Robert O. Paul is hired as Riverside's first public safety officer. 
1953, 
Sandra Kay Parker showing her baton and her Park Hill Band boot. Her Aunt Helen ran the Reeces Cafe in the background.  She lived in the little house back behind that later would become the office of Filger Oil.  It's all now gone.  Sandra is sitting approximately where the summer home of Blogin's Fireworks is located. Second photo of her driving in at Christmas, 1953. 
Fata's in the 50's.  
Go to the 30's and  1940's pages for more.
Green Hills Trailer Court
was located on the far southwest side of Indian Hills.  Mrs. Charles Gordon of Gordon's Cleaner's fame lived there.  It was the only mobile home court in Riverside. 
1953.  
There was a building built for the Riverside Park horse track in 1928 that was an indoor practice track.  It was located at the current Riverside Public Works building off NW Riverside Drive and had to be destroyed after the flood of 93.  The building quietly sat until the early 1950's when it became group hall for meetings, dances, etc.  Until the mid 80's, it would be known as the Rancho. Keep reading through the years as this old building became more popular than it was during the horse racing days. 
1951
1951, December 21
1952, November
1952
1956
Riverside Stadium mid 50's.  
Fata's was off screen to the right.  This is the parking area and then track to the right. 
August 8, 1953
August 29, 1952
March 1954
Fire at the old horse track Riverside Downs Jockey Club which had been converted into apartments. 
June 23, 1954
1954.  
Joey Chitwood brings his daredevil show to Riverside Speedway. 
July, 1954
1954
Construction on the second city hall began in  1954.  It was paid for by a city gas tax that was later determined to be illegal.  After that, the city received a monthly check from the state for it's portion of the gasoline taxes. 
1954
April 11
Professional excavations at the Renner Site
Professors Leo Roedl and James Howard from the University of Missouri excavate at the Renner Site where their excavation was next to Wedel's 1937 excavation 17 years earlier.  
Roedl, 1954
1954
September 30
November 27, 1954
1954
December 11

Mid 50's

Dolly Fletcher somehwere in the High Drive and Northwood road area.   Other lady is unknown.

In front of Moore's store off High Drive, 1954.

1955, September 11
Also shows the same house 67 years later.
1955
Rocket Drive In ad from the Troyan yearbook. 
1955.  
The Riverside Post Office was dedicated and attending were Mr. and Mrs. Filger, Mr. and Mrs. Young, Mrs. Carolina Renner.  Other's in the photo aren't identified.  This building was at the northeast corner of the Red X parking lot where there is now a water retention holding facility.  For those that remember going there, you walked down steps to get to the door.  This is because the building was actually built at ground level and later Mr. Young filled in dirt to raise his parking lot and filled in around the post office.  Mr. Young did all the improvements for the post office and leased it to the government for $1 a year so the city residents could have a post office.  
This building began as the Virginia and John Scott residence who would later move up the street to start their new home and greenhouse operation.  
From 1951 to about 1955, this building was the first city hall.
The building was destroyed in the flood of 1993.
From the 1955 Park Hill Yearbook.
McBoyds was located just east of the White City Motel
(east entrancee to Riverside)

Riverside's First Public Safety Vehicles

1954-57 & Chief Seneker

1956
April
AT&T building opening in April 1956 included these Riverside people. Front row: the county rep., Nellie Stillwagon Brenner, Frances Rose Clark, next 2 unknown. Second row: John W Brenner, Bessie Millsap Brenner, Dr. Thomas Eagle, Mrs. Eagle, Mrs. Eagle's mother and father; Mr. & Mrs. Ed Young, and Zeke Young (boy).The building now is empty at 6407 Roanridge. — with Donald Sheridan. 

1956, May 30
July 29, 1956
Montage of photos around Red X over different years.   The store photo is actually late 50's.  Post office photo 1952.
Red X, mid 50's.  
Colorized photo.  Far bottom left is the post office and the Standard gas station sign for Fata's gas/groceries and ice.  After starting with a small brick building a little larger than car, in this photo about 8 year later, we see Mr. Young  enlarged it about 50 times it's first size and somewhat of the shape it appears today.  Mr. Young said he would take the profits and keep enlarging the building. 
Second photo is from about the same view in 2018.
Mid-50's, Rocket Drive In. 
 It's now part of the QT parking lot.  In the 60's and early 70's it was a Waid's.  Through 80's and until it's demise, it was known as several names, but ended at DEB's Diner. 
1955.  
David Brenner holding his new son, Gary.  This photo was taken at the little cottages that used to be across from Red X.  David Brenner would go on to develop Plantation Apartments and become a mayor of Riverside.  He would later become Platte County Eastern Commissioner.  Gary would serve four years on the city council and go on to do things like develop this website!
1950's. 
Brenner Ridge Grocery.  It 2018, this building was still there and now known as Swope Medical.  This ad is from the mid 50's.  It would later become Connie's in 1958 and a Thriftway in 1966 and later Flash Market owned by Ed and Kathi Rule.  
FACE BOOK history post from Jim Wall:
 Here is a list of owners that I can best remember.
Sam and Katie (last name do not Remember). The store was called Connie’s after their daughter.
Next was John and Mary Capps. They worked with IGA and think this was when the store became Thriftway.
Then Jim and Betty Wilson. Jim was the butcher for John Capps. He was an excellent butcher. I worked at the store from 1974 to 1978.
Juanita Cheatum and her daughter bought the store next. Unfortunately the daughter had a massive heart attack and passed away. They sold the store.
Eddie and Kathie Rule bought the store from Juanita. They kept her as an employee at store before moving her to the Corner cafe. Side tidbit. Juanita would go down to the restaurant and wait for the bread man to coming I think everyday at around 4 am.
As far as I know this was all the owners of the store.
Some of the infamous employees:
Gino Amaro. The cigar chewing produce buyer
Erma Bradley sort of an evening supervisor.
Of course Juanita Cheatum. Supervisor and produce
Jim Wilson best butcher in town. He bought the store.
1955
Rare late 60's photo.
1953.   
Bank of Riverside opens.  It's still there and now called Liberty Bank.  Over the years it has had several names with one that lasted the longest was Farmer's Exchange Bank. 
THEN AND NOW [2018] MORPH
Scout Troop 305, St. Matthew's Church 1956
1957.  
Riverside Motel is the only remaining "old school" motel probably north of the river and they have continued for at least the last 61 years. It's located across from the River Roll Skate Rink.  Different owner's over the years, but generally the same.  Photo below is from 2017.
1951. 
Article of the planned Indian Hills neighborhood, about 1951.  It talks about the developer preserving the mounds---and did not happen.  All prehistoric remains were destroyed.    He was also the attorney for the City at the time.  Vic Panus.
July 27, 1955  
Crash at Riverside Speedway.
Brenner Ridge School, 1956
Mrs. Clark's first grade class, posted by Ronnie Abner
1956
Riverside Speedway
Red X fire April 23, 1957
After two major floods and a previous fire, then this happened. 

Below: Same view in 2022 as above photo.

The Pride gas station is (in 2018) the home of Larry's Nursery. 
1957
March 31
Belgian Bottoms
1957. Big Top opens & McCalls.  
Dog n Sud is out frame to the left.  Big Top later become McCall's.  It is now the Garney Waterfall. 
McCalls would later own the Big Top station. 

A few months later it became a Champlin station and Bill Coen worked there a while and shared a photo of his shirt.

October 25, 1957
Skyline Inn 1957
This was just before it opened.  I would eventually be town down 50 years later in 2007.
More photos under the 60's and 93 to present tabs. 

Skyline Beauty Shop

1957
Gale Stockwell & St. Matthew's
Stockwell was a Nationally known watercolor artist who lived in Platte Woods.  This is of St. Matthew's Church how it looked to him in that year where he took some artistic license in showing downtown KC.  From this perspective, you actually can't see downtown.  We see a parsonage which was later removed and another one built further back where that one was removed in the early 1990's.
Connie's
Gale Fleming.  This was my parents grocery store, named after me! My parents Sam and. Katie, built the store in 1958/9 and they owned it until about 196-7when My dad had his first heart problem, then the leased the the store to John and Mary Capps. They had a five year lease, then we sold it to Ed and. Kathy Rule, the rest is history!met wonderful people there who traded with my parents! People loved them also! Great memories! 
Here's the same building in 2018.
Trails End Motel
The motel was located just north and east of the Line Creek bridge at Gateway.  It it's later years, it became a strip mall of antique shops and a Gyro's restaurant.  It was destroyed after the 93 flood. 
1957
September 12
Filger Oil
1957
Car ads
1957
Air photo of downtown. The main intersection is now Vivion and Gateway.  Northeast of the intersection was the Park A Nite motel.  Southeast was the Filger Oil building which also had Reece's Cafe (future Corner Cafe).  Behind all that was baseball fields and a miniature golf course.  
1958
Red X, east entrance view
1958.  
The White Superior Bus and Equipment business.  It was located at Woodland and Gateway.  It began as Scott's Feed Store and was later torn down and rebuilt to be Harry's Factory Outlet.  In later years, Harry's moved to Northmoor (2017) and is no longer in business.  
1958.  
Gasoline Alley. This photo is looking south coming off the Fairfax bridge.  There were five gas stations effected, but there was total on that stretch of nine at the time.  The road was to be closed to build a new bridge.  The future Park Hill South High School would be just to the left of the bluff in the top right center and I-635 would later run through all this.  Horizons would now be to the left. 

Park A Nite Motel

Northeast corner of Vivion & Gateway

Below is about how that same corner looks today.  The Corner Cafe is out of screen to the right.

1958
March 3
Car accident, Vivion and Gateway looking south.  The current clock tower is where you see Leibrands old gas station in the background and the second photo is about the same view in 2018, 60 years later. 
SINCLAIR STATION
Known as Leibrand's after 1971.  Artists drawing. 
It would be taken over by Bud Leibrand where the gas operation was a separated from the automotive repair business.
In later years, about 1997, it would be taken over by Bud's son, Larry and eventually moved to 2900 NW 47th Street in Riverside. 

1958
April 4
Rock Slide across from Red X
1958
July 18, ad
1958.  
Walt's Riverside Service would soon become Kenny's Auto.  The basic structure of the building still exists today and is located just east from Mike's Fireworks on Vivion.   Many Facebook members commented on the fond memories of the atomic tenderloin!!
1959.  
A year later it was remodeled and modernized. 
(see more under the 60's tab)
Riverside Speedway, April 15, 1959
1959
July, 19th
Ferd Filger, Mrs Filger and Ed Young with the queen.

1959

 Mr. Young showing off his Zebra Car.

1959
Photo 2018, Gordon's was on the left side. 
December 13,  1959
The former indoor practice track for the horse track that closed in 1937.

Late 50's, Drilling Oil in the bottoms

Donald P Coleman At the time we bought our property in the Riverside bottoms, there were at least a dozen producing oil wells with operating pumps and storage tanks. There were 3 or 4 large storage tanks along side the BNSF tracks just to the east of Van de Populiere Road. The farm house on our property had been connected to a well that was producing natural gas!

Beverlee Roper Wow! Platte County really has it all. Cleanest aquifer for drinking water, oil, natural gas, and deep water that can float about anything down to the Gulf of Mexico and hence the ?! Don, thanks to you engineers for keeping it all separate, safe, & available.

Joe Vandepopuliere There were wells on the properties where we and grandpa lived, also storage tanks at both locations. Grandpa had a gas well that he used to heat his house and cook with. These were shallow wells around 300 to 400 feet.
1950's
One of Dr. Gool's buildings. 

Somehow this building has escaped the flood of 93 and the building of the L-385 levee and is still there on the south side of Line Creek on Gateway. The building was among several built by Dr. Gool and was at I-69 and Vivion before I-69. He had phones installed in each one knowing the state wanted the ground for I-69 and he got much more money because they considered these huts "homes" if they had phones.. Bill Hedgecock bought one of these after I-69 was under construction and moved it beside his station to rent tools. Later, he added onto his station and rented this building out and for years it was known as several businesses including  Mr. Turff and then Ramseys Auto Sales. On the south side was Scott's greenhouse. 

1959
This was located just north of the 2018 Quik Trip and was removed for the QT.  
1959
Rand McNally Map
Share by: